July 8 is a special date for me, so I thought a July 8th centric playlist might be appropriate. I did some digging on what’s been released on July 8, and came up with a mixed bag of results. Not too many songs or albums were released that date, but what was, was definitely quality.
The Go-Go’s debut album, Beauty and the Beat, was released on July 8, 1981. I was going to say this is a guilty pleasure of mine, but there’s nothing to be guilty of here. Sure, I can jump into the hard rock, punk & psychedelic pools with the best of them, but there’s quality music in this release. The Go Go’s have fun with this album, with well written & well played fun, infectious songs. It fits nicely in with the New Wave movement.
I’ve never been a fan of disco, and was a rabid detractor of it when it started (I’ve mellowed a tad over the years), so I was quite happy to see that on July 8, 1978, Gerry Rafferty’s City to City album knocked the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack off #1 on Billboard album charts after 24 straight weeks at #1.
This was Rafferty’s second solo album and his first after the legal difficulties with the breakup of Stealers Wheel (his former band) expired. It features two well-known hits, “Baker Street” and “Right Down the Line”, with the former having a distinctive, if not a tad bit controversial, saxophone solo.
The following singles were released on July 8:
- 1959 – Sleepwalk, Santo & Johnny
- 1968 – Born To Be Wild, Steppenwolf
- 1972 – Join Together, The Who
- 1981 – Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around, Stevie Nicks & Tom Petty